License Management, Release 12.1.3

The following table provides an overview of the significant changes up to this current release. The table does not provide an exhaustive list of all changes or of the new features up to this release.

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller no longer has support for the following:

You must convert existing server license files to smart licenses using Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM). The CSSM allows you to convert traditional licenses to Smart Licenses. For more information, see Cisco Smart Software Manager and Migrate from Traditional Licensing to Smart Licensing.

To configure license management in Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller, navigate to the License Management page:

Operations > License Management

You can view and assign licenses in the following tabs in the License Management window:

You can view the existing licenses for NDFC-managed devices by choosing Operations > License Management. By default, the Overview tab appears.

The Overview tab displays all or some of the following cards, depending in the license manager state:

The NDFC Licenses tab shows the following information:

In the NDFC Licenses tab, you can review the status of NDFC licenses for each switch. These licenses can be provisioned on the device as a Smart License, an Honor License, or an Unlicensed device.

Choose one or multiple switches by clicking Actions > Assign or Assign All.

When you assign a license to a device, the NDFC license service assigns the available license based on availability on the device, the status of smart licensing, and other factors.

The Cisco MDS switches and Cisco Nexus 3000, 5000, 7000, and 9000 series of switches support a server-based smart license.

The following table displays the fields that appear on License Management > NDFC Licenses:

The following table describes the items in the Actions menu drop-down list that appear on License Management > NDFC Licenses:

The Switch License Inventory tab provides more detailed information about which license feature is currently in use on the devices.

The following table displays the fields that appear in License Management > Switch License Inventory:

Follow the procedures in this section to configure license management.

NDFC Smart License

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller allows you to configure Smart Licensing. Cisco Smart Licensing is a flexible licensing model that provides you with an easier, faster, and more consistent way to purchase and manage software across the Cisco portfolio and across your organization. You can use the Smart Licensing feature to manage licenses at the device level and renew them if required.

• To use Smart Licensing, you must first set up a Smart Account on Cisco Software Central.

• For a more detailed overview on Cisco Licensing, see the Cisco Software Licensing Guide.

The Smart Licensing policy runs in the license microservice and provides the ability to manage licenses for NDFC using CSSM. You can register smart licensing on-premises or in the offline mode.

You can discover, configure, and manage licenses for third-party switches, such as Arista switches, on NDFC. You can either configure third-party Essentials licenses for fixed platforms or third-party Essentials licenses for modular platforms. To view a list of supported platforms and chassis IDs, see Smart Licensing Using Policy for Cisco NDFC, Release 12.1.x.

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• Enable NDFC server smart licensing; otherwise, the license will be in the Honor state.

• When you register smart licensing on NDFC directly with internet access, you might see an error message because Cisco Nexus Dashboard uses IP addresses to access the smart license rather than using a hostname.

  Ensure that subnets for IP addresses on https://smartreceiver.cisco.com are added to the route table in the Nexus Dashboard running NDFC.

  To add IP addresses/subnets, in the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Web GUI, navigate to Admin > System Settings > Routes. Click Edit in the Management Network Routes area and add the necessary IP addresses/subnets, then click Save to confirm.

  You can ping https://smartreceiver.cisco.com to find the most recent subnet. For example:

  $ ping smartreceiver.cisco.com
  PING smartreceiver.cisco.com (146.112.59.81): 56 data bytes
  64 bytes from 146.112.59.81: icmp_seq=0 ttl=52 time=48.661 ms
  64 bytes from 146.112.59.81: icmp_seq=1 ttl=52 time=44.730 ms
  64 bytes from 146.112.59.81: icmp_seq=2 ttl=52 time=48.188 ms

• After you register Smart Licensing, you must manually assign licenses to the existing switches. For all switches discovered after registration, smart licenses are automatically assigned to the switches.

• Switch-based smart licenses are supported for MDS switches and the Nexus 9000 and 3000 series of switches.

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To configure NDFC smart license management:

1. In the Configure License Management window, click the button next to NDFC Smart License, then click Next.

   The Select Mode step in the Enable NDFC Smart License window appears.

2. Select the appropriate mode for your NDFC smart license management:

   • Online: In the Online mode, NDFC can communicate with the Cisco Smart Licensing servers to report license usage. This includes:

     • Direct Connection

     • Via a proxy

     • Using a Cisco OnPrem server

   A trust token is required for direct connection and proxy. See the Cisco Software Licensing Guide for more information.

   • Offline: In the Offline mode, you can share data between the NDFC instance and CSSM. Operating in an air-gap or disconnected environment, usage reporting is done using an xml file, which is downloaded from NDFC before being uploaded to CSSM. A response file is then downloaded from CSSM, which is then uploaded to NDFC. See the Cisco Software Licensing Guide for more information.

Online

To enable the online mode:

1. Select the Online option in the Enable NDFC Smart License window, then click Next.

2. Select the transport option that you would like to use when establishing trust for the Smart License Agent:

   • Direct: With this transport option, NDFC communicates directly with Cisco’s licensing servers. This option uses the following URL: https://smartreceiver.cisco.com/licservice/license.

     1. Click Direct, then click Next.

     2. In the Select Transport step, click Get Trust Token.

        For Direct transport, NDFC must establish Trust with CSSM. A Trust Token can be retrieved or generated at https://software.cisco.com.

     3. Enter the trust token in the Token field, then click Next.

        Go to Step 3.

   • Proxy: With this transport option, NDFC uses a proxy to reach https://smartreceiver.cisco.com.

     1. Click Proxy, then enter the URL and port details to access the license using a proxy server.

     2. Click Next.

        Go to Step 3.

   • On prem: With this transport option, NDFC communicates with OnPrem (CSLU Transport Protocol required).

     

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     You must configure the license smart URL on the product to use the CSLU transport URL.

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     1. Click On prem, then enter the CSLU transport URL.

        You do not require a trust token to enable licensing. Trust is established between the CSSM and the OnPrem CSLU. From NDFC and the OnPrem CSLU, trust is constant, as it expected to be a local connection.

     2. Click Next.

        Go to Step 3.

3. Verify that the process is proceeding correctly.

   A screen appears, displaying the progress at each stage of the online license management configuration:

   • The Enabling Smart Agent field initially shows In Progress, then changes to Success.

   • The Verifying connectivity to <URL> field initially shows Pending, then changes to In Progress, and finally changes to Success.

   • The Establish trust field initially shows Pending, then changes to In Progress, and finally changes to Trusted.

4. When the state in all fields change to Success and Trusted, click Done.

   You return to the main License Management window, with the Overview tab selected by default.

   The fields in the License Management Status area should display the following values:

   • NDFC Smart Agent: Enabled

   • License Status: In Use

   • Trust Status: Trusted

Offline

To export the license data and import the response from the CSSM:

1. Select the Offline option in the Enable NDFC Smart License window, then click Next.

   A screen appears, displaying the progress of the offline license management configuration:

   • The Enabling Smart Agent field changes to Success.

   • The Setting Mode to OFFLINE field moves from In Progress to Success.

2. When the state in both fields change to Success, click Done.

   You return to the main License Management window, with the Overview tab selected by default.

3. In the Smart License Details area, click Export License Data.

4. On Cisco Software Central, navigate to the smart licensing section, then click the Reports tab and choose the relevant usage data files tab.

   You can upload the usage report from NDFC, and after few minutes, you can download a response and the import response to NDFC.

5. In the Smart License Details area within the Overview tab in the License Management window, click Import License Data and upload the CSSM acknowledge file to NDFC.

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